A Detailed Journey into the Punk Subculture:

Punk Outreach in Public Libraries

Introduction
It has been my experience that a misunderstanding of the punk subculture has led

to a group of young adults who are not being served by the public library. There is some

argument that punk no longer exists - that it was a brief epidemic of angry youths that

burned itself out quickly because it couldn't survive with its philosophy of "no future" long

enough to spread its ideology; therefore librarians don’t need to be concerned about them.

In my view, this is not true. In this paper, I will offer a detailed introduction to the punk

subculture for those who know very little about it. I will describe their history, symbols,

beliefs and value system to give a good sense of who they were and continue to be. I

intend to show that Punk exists as a community filled with some troubled, yet highly

intelligent and creative young adults that libraries should be aware of so they may begin

the difficult task of attracting them into the library. In conclusion, I will discuss some of

the problems surrounding inviting a group of people into the library whose major belief

system necessitates the denial of convention, tradition and belonging to the status quo.

I have been struck by the number of people who look at me strangely when I tell

them my Master's paper topic for library school is a cultural study of the Punk subculture.

After some thinking, I realized that I was getting the strange look for two reasons. For

one, there is a lack of understanding about what a punk is and second, people do not

understand how a cultural study fits into the realm of libraries. It took some thought and a

lot of fine-tuning even for me to figure out its relevance to the field of library science. I
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knew it was there, but how best to go about expressing it? I have thought long and hard

over this and can't get past the feeling that librarians above many others should have a

fundamental understanding of the diverse cultures that exist within their surrounding

communities. Without an understanding of the community, a library has the difficulty of

appealing to strangers.

Can a library ever not want to attract a segment of the public? Is there more

benefit to the library by not appealing to punks? The punk subculture contains many

problematic elements for a library, beyond marketing techniques which is beyond the

scope of this paper. To understand punk is to know that its adherents are destructive,

angry and anti-social, forming bonds only with each other which sometimes results in

hostility toward others. Where is the balance between what the library can offer and gain

by the patronage of a subculture versus what the punks can gain from the library? These

problems must be addressed before anyone can determine how best to appeal to a group

such as the punks. In order to begin a paper that relies so heavily on an understanding of

subcultures, I find it necessary to review some of the literature as it pertains to them in

general before moving into my discussion of the punk subculture.

History of Subcultures
The term subculture first came into use in the 1940's, but the definition has

changed very much since then. Most authors have agreed that “subcultures are groups of

people that have something in common with each other...which distinguishes them in a

significant way from the members of other social groups” (Thornton, 1). Thornton, in the

Introduction to the Subcultures Reader, offers the most insightful glance into the realm of

subcultures, so I rely heavily on her arguments. Many groups of people have similar things

in common that set them apart from others, but we do not call them subcultures. The most
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obvious would include religious or political affiliation. Groups exist, according to

Thornton, in communities, societies and cultures. So what sets a subculture apart? It is

helpful to define these three terms and then discuss a subculture in relation to them.

“Community” is often defined as a permanent location built on ties of familial or

neighborly kinship. We all grew up in communities, whether in the country, the suburbs,

the city or a hundred places in between. We understand that a community can be a city

block of row houses in Philadelphia, a suburban apartment complex in Cary or a housing

development in Cleveland. Inhabitants shop at the same markets, send their kids to the

same schools and may even have similar interests about the quality of the water flowing

through their taps or whether or not it is acceptable to hang out on the front doorstep.

While some subcultures boast of offering a “family” to its members, (for example,

the Harley Hogs motorcycle gang), the majority of subcultures, according to Thornton are

“apart from their families and in states of relative transience” (Thornton, 2). While

subcultures do have territories, they “are more often characterized as appropriating parts

of the city for their street (rather than domestic) culture” (Thornton, 2). Paul Corrigan

supplies an apt example of such a subculture in his essay, “Doing Nothing” (103). The

essay “testifies to the intense activity which is involved in the common pursuit of ‘doing

Corrigan, 103). The act of doing nothing begins with picking a place in the city

like a street corner and then just waiting. To those around it looks to be a complete waste

of time. But soon someone in the group, out of boredom, picks something to do.

Normally the resulting activity is destructive. Name calling, fighting or smashing in

windows are the examples Corrigan supplies. According to Corrigan, the “Doing

Nothing” group is a subculture made up entirely of youth which brings us back to

Thornton’s description of a subculture that states that most are typically youth oriented.

The only exception she offers is the motorcycle gang subculture and some of the hippie
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subculture.

The second term, “society” is also made up of groups of people who share

commonalities. However, “society” according to Thornton implies officiality from

bureaucratic recruitment to official badges and uniforms. What sets a subculture apart

from society is that it is generally informal, though some do require initiation and

“looking” the part, as is apparent in the Punk subculture. The idea of "looking the part" is

one of the cultural factors of the punks that I will discuss later.

The third term that can be defined as a group of people who share something in

common with each other is “culture.” However, placing a “sub” prefix on the term culture

implies that, while part of the culture, a subculture is subordinate to the parent culture, an

idea that is much discussed in the literature. A subculture, a smaller part of the dominant

culture lives within the dominant parent culture. The members of a subculture, then utilize

many of the same services, consume many of the same goods, operate within the same

legal system (even though they may not believe in it) and walk the same streets. Even the

subcultures that rebel against the status-quo are not separate from it. Such rebellious

subcultures according to Levine and Stumpf “exist outside the main culture, while

illuminating central features of it” (433). For this reason subcultures that rebel are often

called reflective subcultures. A reflective subculture is different from the “outlaw”

subculture of the motorcycle gangs and the “alternative” subculture of the hippies. (Levine

and Stumpf, 433). So while there may be argument about whether or not a subculture is

subordinate, it is agreed that a subculture is a part of the dominant culture and helps set its

philosophy.

There is more to be said about a subculture than what Thornton offers in her three

main definitions. Also useful in defining a subculture is its reliance on class distinction.

Michael Brake, in the preface to his book Comparative Youth Culture, writes that
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“subcultures arise as attempts to resolve collectively experienced problems resulting in

contradiction in the social structure” (Brake, ix). Very often the problems needing to be

solved are political or social. Youth subcultures often rise up out of the need for change

and in reaction to the stresses of a down-spiraling economy or a bleak looking future. This

would explain why many subcultures are comprised of low to middle class urban youths

who are reacting to the stress of entering a workforce that has no jobs to offer.

From the literature, then, we can say that subcultures have at least seven major

determinants setting them apart or clarifying their differences from communities, societies

or cultures. It has been shown through the writings of Thornton, Levine, Stumpf and

Brake that subcultures are groups that:

1. have something in common.

2. have different beliefs than the “normal” or dominant culture.

3. are often in the state of transience.

4. are generally informal in structure.

5. are youth oriented.

6. are subordinate to the dominant culture.

7. are reliant on class distinction.

The Punk culture that literally exploded with multicolored and tattered clothes and hair

onto the dreary landscape of Britain in 1976 had each of the above seven elements that set

them apart from community, society and the parent culture. The inclusion of the seven

elements and the distance from the parent culture means that Punk can be defined as a

subculture.

History of Punk in England

Britain has been the home of many youth subcultures throughout its recent history.
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The Teddy Boys, in their Edwardian suits and short cropped hair, looked like respectable

youths. Their style was reminiscent of 30's high fashion. Yet, they fought and raised

trouble on the streets in direct paradox to the way they looked. The Teddy Boys played

with stereotypes in the way that they “looked” the part of the clean cut ideals of England

in the 50's and 60's, but then surprised everyone with a violent street fight or a rash of

robberies.

Next were the Mods and Rockers of the 60's. These were music and style

conscious subcultures that rode around on decorated scooters or tough looking

motorcycles. Factions of both subcultures fought with each other in order to gain “turf”

on which to hang out. The Mods valued American consumerism and aspired to be the

upper class, although they played with the symbols of the dominant culture. "The

conventional insignia of the business world - the suit, collar and tie, short hair, etc. - were

stripped of their original connotations - efficiency, ambition, compliance with authority -

and transformed into 'empty' fetishes, objects to be desired, fondled and valued in their

own right" (Hebdige, 136). In contrast, and the reason for the countless turf wars, the

Rockers "acted out an assertion of working class values" (Stratton, 183). The Rockers, in

their leather jackets and on their tough looking bikes were outwardly against this sort of

blatant consumerism. They did not aspire to the same upper class ideals.

The next subculture of any importance were the Skinheads who were extremely

political in nature. Due to the decreasing economy and the influx of foreigners, skinheads

revolted with racist and militant tendencies toward anyone who did not fit in. Normally,

those who did not fit in were foreigners with whom England’s citizens had to compete for

jobs. The skinheads were nationalists who wanted to keep Britain pure by discouraging

foreigners from immigrating. Often this discouragement took the form of incredible

violence enacted in the name of England against those same foreigners.

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The punk subculture literally outgrew the “skins.” The first punks in the mid 1970s

separated from the Skinheads due to the punks’ anti-establishment ways. Unlike the

Skinheads, Punks were against nationalism and government of any organized kind. The

punks also did not believe in racism. With seemingly opposing viewpoints, the punks

found their own way. But the Punks didn’t only grow out of their aversion to the

skinheads. There were a whole slew of other political, social and environmental factors

that led up to the development of the punk culture that is complete with a social identity

and defining cultural factors that helped to structure their world.

In the mid 1970's England underwent a recession. “England’s crisis had become

what Stuart Hall calls ‘the articulation of a fully fledged capitalist recession, with

extremely high rates of inflation, a toppling currency, a savaging of living standards, and a

sacrificing of the working class to capital’” (Savage, 229). From this recession came

upheaval in the relatively stable lives of the British. This upheaval was particularly stressful

to the young who saw their working class parents go from having steady jobs to having

none. “One only had to look at the decaying inner cities to realize that poverty and

inequality, far from being eradicated, were visible as never before” (Savage, 229). England

was suffering from the belief that the country was being invaded and the citizens were

being uprooted and left to die. Muggings, strikes and letterbombs were all seen as “a

concerted, even orchestrated assault by a multitude of minorities that threatened to swamp

the majority” (Savage, 229). This view of foreigners as infiltrating enemies threw England

into believing in greater social ills. Conspiracies abounded about what was happening in

the government to allow the recession to continue.

In addition to the political problems in Britain, another factor acted as an omen of

bad fortune. The summer of 1976 was unusually hot and dry in England and Scotland. A

heat wave fully engulfed the country and families that might have been able to take a
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holiday out of the sun in the past, were forced by poverty to remain at home. There

seemed to be no escape from the fear of the recession and the death of an environment

that was usually lush. “By late August, columns of smoke...dotted the landscape like

warning beacons” (Savage, 229), and Britain was fearful of the foreboding elements that

seemed to take control.

To make things worse, Britain was used to growth. During the 1960's “upper

middle class liberalism...had been nourished” (Savage, 230). The fact of lost jobs and a

welfare state prevailed. People were frightened and felt trapped in a prison-like state in

which they did not have the financial freedom to fight back. The shift from "having" to

"not having" made people feel helpless and hopeless and the youth living in Britain were

not oblivious to this fact. Many youths were angry at the government and society for

relying on a government that was unable to help its own citizens and protect them from

these hardships.

The punk movement grew out of this drab and dark environment ready to

challenge the status quo and show their contempt for government, society and tradition.

“Political and social (even behavioral) extremism seemed very attractive as a way out of

this impasse” (Savage, 230). Punk was the natural progression of things. Punk’s main

philosophy centered around the idea of shock value accentuated by anti-establishment

ideals. Punks were contemptuous of the society around them and attempted to create a

more ideal and honest environment that was not hooked on the status quo. The original

punks took everything to the extreme: their clothes, their hair, their drugs, their music and

their behavior. They were a youth subculture based on doing the complete opposite of

every acceptable thing they could think of. They picked the most horrific elements of the

past and incorporated symbols of the horrors in their style. They were anti-racist, yet wore

swastikas and Nazi arm bands. They were anti-religion, yet wore crosses. They mixed
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symbols and styles to shock and horrify onlookers. Punks hung out at railroad stations and

bus stops so that the “normal” society would see them. Their statement was to be seen and

to stand in the face of tradition in order to mock it.

Punks believed that if the economy could fall it was because it was based on a

faulty foundation. They hated the government and thought the only way to live was to

make your own rules on a personal level with no regard for the collective. They were

anarchists who thought chaos would help to sort out the mess and put things in a natural

order. Yet, for all of their concentration on chaos and the jumbling of symbols, punks had

a culture of their own.

History of Punk in America

The trends that helped shape punk in England were mirrored in the United States

in the 1970s. "Economically the 1970s ushered in an age of diminished opportunities, as

the energy crunch and oil embargo of 1973 and early 1974 depressed industrial production

and cut the real income of the American workforce" (Bindas, 83). By 1980, it was clear

that another recession was on its way. While the angst that kids felt about their futures

was obvious, the American punk movement would concentrate less on the working class

issues and more on their music.

While it is believed that the Punk movement began in England in 1976 as a

reaction against a dwindling economy and bleak future, America heard the first stirrings of

a fast, loud, stylistically simplistic music that began with bands like the New York Dolls,

the Ramones and Blondie in the early 1970s. These bands tended to attract a fringe culture

that had subcultural tendencies. However, the punk image that incorporated the symbols

and beliefs of the subculture, such as the colorful hair, the torn-up clothing, and the

swastikas and crosses didn't gain popularity in America until the very end of the 1970s and
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the early 1980s. There were differences between English punk and American punk in both

the culture and the music. At the end of the 1970s, "record companies and producers were

advising that the new music showed the punks trying to better fit into the preferences of

the American consumer" (Bindas, 84).

The Clash, one of the first English punk bands, found that their American fans

"adopted the punk look and not the ideals" (Bindas, 84). It was well known that early

American punks were normally attracted to the subculture for its symbols, not for its

substance. Perhaps the fact that the "average punk rocker in the U.S. came from a middle

class background" (Bindas, 85) meant that the average American punk rocker did not

understand and couldn't relate to punk in the same way as kids who were raised in an

environment as dreary as England was in the years after World War II. This might explain

why early American punk music attempted to sell into to the mainstream by becoming

"new wave," a highly energetic and danceable mix of music whose lyrics tended toward

love and courtship and less toward political or social causes.

Music known in America as hardcore "emerged in the early 80s, first in LA, then

elsewhere, mainly in reaction to the commercialization of punk" (Ward, 163). Hardcore,

with all of its allusion to pornography is not to be mistaken in that they both "aspire to

identical ends - 'going all the way,' 'nothing left to the imagination.'" (Ward, 163).

Hardcore was the American reaction to punk and what punk had become earlier in

America. The bands, often set up in garages with friends sharing similar mindsets,

attempted, and succeeded, in making a type of music that alienated them from others.

Threats, name-calling, and just plain ugly words were thrown around to show their

solidarity with others who felt just as destructive. Hardcore in New York was equally

harsh in nature, especially in Lower Manhattan where urban decay and grit were the prime

motivators for kids who were looking for something to do. New York hardcore tended to
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get back to some of the original motivators of British punk in that it was politically and

socially motivated by the crime and injustice that was seen on the street.

The Culture of the Punks

Within the punk subculture there exists a whole set of cultural factors that help to

set it apart from the surrounding society. Even though punk is considered a reflective

subculture, illuminating central features of the dominant culture (Levine and Stumpf,

433), punks can still be viewed as a group of individuals with their own culture, values (or

lack of values), structure and philosophy. Punk also exhibits other narrower cultural

factors such as language and style. The punk culture shows signs of being socially active,

and in some ways have influenced the community. They have a definable philosophy

further expressed by their art, symbolic objects and folklore. They have taboos that speak

to their boundaries and encompassed in the boundaries exist gender and age issues. Their

view of outsiders as “others” further accentuates their cultural boundaries. In order to

have a complete view of punks as a culture I will discuss each of the above cultural factors

as they pertain to the punk movement.

Punk is anti-establishment, anti-status quo, anti-institutional and anti-religious.

They believe in anarchy, freedom of the people, destruction of tradition and a basic truth

that exists beneath all of these societal constraints. One of punk's main goals is to

challenge, both actively and passively, what the dominant society sees as truth: the

monarchy (in England), marriage, government in general, etc. The challenge was to get to

a more authentic sense of the truth. If punks can get beyond the parent culture’s sense of

what is true, it opens up a whole new world. “If nothing was true, everything was

Greil Marcus in Lipstick Traces (6). In this desire to go beneath the truth

of the parent culture, punks are in essence sorting through that culture in order to make
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their own way. Each of these ideas helps to define the Punk world view or philosophy.

Each of the institutions and traditions they are against defines every other aspect of their

lives. When you pick apart a punk, you don’t find chaos, but a very well established and

defined code that colors everything from their clothes and hair to their behavior and social

activity. "The subculture was nothing if not consistent. There [is] a homological relation

between the trashy cut-up clothes and spiky hair, the pogo and the amphetamines, the

spitting, the vomiting, the format of fanzines, the insurrectionary poses and the 'soulless,'

frantically driven music” (Hebdige, 137). With some idea of what makes a punk tick it

becomes easier to tell why a punk looks and acts like a punk.

Style, according to Hans-Georg Soeffner in The Order of Rituals, defines much of

what Punk is. The well-ordered code of the punk might look like it is haphazard and dirty

with no thought put into it to the general observer, “but if one looks closer, one will

realize that this first impression is deceptive: the seemingly tattered and shabby garb is

carefully put together and arranged” (Soeffner, 55). Soeffner continues his observations by

stating that “Punk is the elaboration of a specific aesthetic of the ugly” (55). The idea of

the ugly, or what some might consider obscene, also serves to explain why punks choose

to wear offensive body jewelry, such as safety pins as earrings and face rings, swastikas
and crosses as pins and painted emblems.

As I stated earlier, punk is a reflective subculture and it employs shock value in

every aspect of life. The style of punk can also be viewed as taking the symbols of the

dominant culture, mixing up their meanings and then applying these symbols to their way

of dress. For instance, the use of swastikas and crosses, while on the surface showing a

loyalty to the neo-nazi movement or some religious group, in reality serve only to offend

the mainstream. “The swastika was a symbol of contempt employed as a means of

offending the traditional culture, but it was actually devoid of any political significance”
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(Fox, 380). Their clothing serves to set them apart from the dominant culture. Offending

the mainstream, by their use of symbols in dress, seems to be the key motivation for the

punks. "The punks wore clothes that were the sartorial equivalent of swear words, and

they swore as they dressed - with calculated effect...Clothed in chaos, they produced

Noise in the calmly orchestrated Crisis of everyday life...a noise which made (no) sense in

exactly the same way and to exactly the same extent as a piece of avant-garde music"

(Hebdige, 137).

Many of the theorists who write about the look of the punks imply that it is a

culture of style. The culture of style implies that it is devoid of any other cultural factor.

Greil Marcus attempts to show the reader that the ugliness of punk is more than a fashion

statement. It began as a way of life for kids who had no “beauty” to display. “The punks

were not just pretty people...who made themselves ugly. They were fat, anorexic, pock-

marked, acned, stuttering, crippled, scarred, and damaged, and what their new decorations

underlined was the failure already engraved in their faces” (Marcus, 74). Today, this idea

of ugliness is not quite so literal. Some punks may be physically attractive, but in attitude

and dress they promote the "ugly" quality. According to Marcus, every aspect of style for

the punk adds credence to the other cultural factors that make up punk. Clothing and the

use of horrific symbols as jewelry speak to their philosophy. Punks wear the sign of the

anarchists (an “A” surrounded by a circle), not to necessarily say they are anarchists, but

to imply that they hate the idea of organized government. They wear the cross and the

swastika to shock outsiders. They wear safety pins to hold together tattered clothing in

order to symbolize the decline of government and society (Pearson, 291). Scarification,

mutilation and tattooing are also common as a reflection of the decline. The rainbow color

of their hair serves as further decoration and the altering of reality and the separation from

society (Hebdige, 179).

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The language of punk gives meaning to the movement (Widdicombe, 271) and the

most visible sign of their language comes in the form of music. Punk music serves as a

language to align their philosophies and give punks a place to rally in clubs and at punk

functions. "If we were to write an epitaph for the punk subculture, we could do no better

than repeat Poly Styrene's famous dictum: 'Oh Bondage, Up Yours!' or somewhat more

concisely: the forbidden is permitted" (Hebdige, 138). Everything thought of as

questionable or objectionable by the dominant culture, not just in music, is fair and

preferable game for the punks.

The music, while singing the belief of the irreverent punk band, the Sex Pistols,

“No Future,” also gives a purpose and a feeling of acceptance among youths who feel

alone and unloved by the world. In the music there is hope. “What remains irreducible

about this music is its desire to change the world...The desire begins with the demand to

live not as an object but as a subject of history --to live as if something actually depended

on one’s actions--and that demand opens onto a free street” (Marcus, 5-6). The music

seeks to prove that all of the popular institutions that the punks are asked to accept by the

dominant culture are false, ideological constructs.

The style of punk music is reflective of the clothing. It is raucous, tattered and held

together by a rhythm made up of as few as three chords. One might be reminded of the

safety pins that hold together their tattered clothing. The music is also offensive many

times, as is illustrated by the story of the Sex Pistols’ first television performance where

they used the word “fuck” on the air. This was so obscene that the Sex Pistols were seen

as a threat to the state and were denounced by the Queen. Even when one of their songs

hit number one on the billboard charts, it was shown by a blank space at the #1 spot.

Some workers whose job it was to package the album in the factory refused to do so

(Marcus, 14). Using the Sex Pistols as the most obvious example, punk music serves to
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set the punk culture even further apart from the mass culture.

It is interesting to note, however, that early punk music influenced society

regardless of its inherent obscenity. Major record labels fought with each other in order to

be the first to sign punk bands, the most popular being the Sex Pistols and the Clash. What

is surprising is that the music that inspired such revulsion could be such a potential money

maker. But what is equally surprising is that punk bands allowed themselves to be signed

to major record labels at all, considering their severe distaste for the mainstream. Joel

Schalit offers at least a partial explanation for this paradox when he writes, "Instead of

advocating the overthrow of capitalist relations of production, punk insists on reverting to

an early form of capitalist development which emphasizes the necessity of the imagination,

skills, and hard work of the entrepreneur as opposed to the blindness and stupidity of the

corporation and the bureaucrat. In this light, punk appears as a critique of mass culture

instead of a critique of capitalist culture" (29). This paradox is important to understand,

since even to this day it is considered selling out for punk bands to sign with a major

record company. Knowing that punk is against mass culture, but promotes, or least

accepts capitalist culture, helps one to understand that punk bands signing with major

record labels or buying into the fashion of the punks are not really selling out when looked

at from this perspective. The clothing style and the music remain two of the most visible

original influences on mainstream culture.

The music of punk is also its folklore. Punk remains as the defining music of a

subculture. In "God Save the Queen," the Sex Pistols ranted their ideals for all of England

to hear, that is until it was banned due to its untimely (or timely, as the punks would see it)

release of the single during the Silver Jubilee - the Queen's 25th year on the throne. The

lyrics define both how the punks viewed the world around them, as well as how they

viewed themselves. "God save the queen / The fascist regime / They made you a moron /
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A potential H-bomb / God save the Queen / She ain't no human being / There is no future /

In England's Dream / God save the Queen / We mean it man / We love our Queen / God

Saves / Don't be told what you want / Don't be told what you need / There's no future.../

When there's no future / How can there be sin / We're poison in your machine / We're the

flowers in your dustbin / We're the future / Your future" ("God Save the Queen"). With no

future as a major philosophy, there are also hints at no past. With no past comes no

influence from outside sources because the outside sources simply do not exist for the

punks (granted this is a paradox in that punks were very influenced by the outside world,

or else they wouldn't be a reflective subculture). Therefore their folklore is created

internally by the musicians who believe and understand the idea of authenticity and the

truth of the pure or primordial thought that inspired all other thought. Punks believe that

since they have no inspiration, they are free to choose how to live, what to write, and what

to believe. They are free to be authentic - to have their own ideas and thoughts without

regard to the society around them.

Sue Widdicombe, in her article “‘Being’ versus ‘Doing’ Punk: On Achieving

Authenticity as a Member," speaks directly to this idea of authenticity. She addresses how

the Punk subculture defines itself in relation to other groups that exist on the fringes of

their culture, such as the poseurs or weekend punks who take to the subculture simply

because it is fashionable or somehow cool. Most specifically Widdicombe states that

punks “admire those...members [who] exhibit genuine commitment to certain values”

(264). According to Linda Andes, "An individual must be able to display expert

knowledge of punk culture and especially of punk music to be perceived as authentic by

members of the subculture" (217). Punks also show their authenticity by not accepting

those who do not live the lifestyle of the true Punk, which normally centers around

hanging out on the street, looking the part, believing the philosophy that would set them
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against popular culture, and knowing the significant events that lead to the punk

movement. Even some people who look like punks and wear the clothes and symbols are

ridiculed by the punks as being weekend punks or poseurs with no loyalty to the cultural

sentiment that makes up the punk movement.

However, there is a problem in defining what a true punk is even within the punk

community. There are people who believe in the basic tenets of punk, but who don't look

the part. Often these are older punks who have outgrown the juvenile "rebellion for

rebellion's sake" mentality. Andes states that these punks are still respected by the younger

punks because they know enough about the subculture to maintain authenticity. As a

benefit of age and experience, these older punks often know much more about the culture

than the younger group. Another paradox is that Andes found in her research that a lot of

punks who believed they knew who was authentic, chose only their friends as the

authentic punks along with a few old-timers that may or may not have been in their circle

of friends (215). However, this concept seems to have been developed in Andes view of

the American Punk scene, not the English scene.

Punk's view of outsiders helps establish the boundaries of the punk movement. We

already know that punks are against everything that is accepted by the popular culture.

Since they hated popular culture, they also hate those who fit into this culture. It is for this

reason that any time punk culture is infiltrated by outsiders (especially when their clothing

is touted as fashionable), it does an internal shift. “Whatever official fashion picks up from

punk design is immediately abandoned by the punks by way of a counter movement, and

reformulated as antifashion” (Soeffner, 54-55). No matter how comfortable punks are

with their original style, “there is a general attitude among punks of the need to create and

maintain their own distinctive style” (Fox, 379).

People who merely dress the part are on the other side of the boundary that make
 18

up punk, as are those punks who can hide their punk styles by combing their hair in a more

acceptable fashion in order to keep a job. The “contempt for authority and the

conventional culture was, in fact, such an essential value for punks that if one expressed

prosystem sentiments or support for the present administration, one would not be

considered a member, no matter how well one looked the part” (Fox, 379).

True punks often live on the streets or relied in the punk squatter communities that

are set up throughout cities with a punk presence. They live in squalor, squeezed into an

abandoned apartment or building with as many as twenty five other punks. The jobs they

accept are normally “outside the system, such as musicians in rock bands, or artists. (Fox,

379), but many are unemployed. Viewing this deprivation, popular culture has seen punk

life as the same as a vagrant’s life. For the punk, however, this view is not true. In Kathryn

Constructions of Deviance, she quotes a punk as saying, “Punk set me

free. It let me out of the system. I can walk the streets now and do what I want and not

live by the demands of the system. When I walk the streets, I am a punk, not a bum”

(379). This view of a punk as separate from all of societies ideas of reality further defines

their boundaries. The only taboo within punk culture seems to occur when punks step

outside of the boundaries and sell out to the mass culture by getting a job inside of the
system or promoting some other idea that was not punk.

What normal society deems unacceptable, punks nourish. What normal society

deems perverse, punks cultivate. The behavior of punks is often revolting, sometimes even

to themselves, but punks have the ability to be revolted by their own actions and at the

same time enjoy the impact of the behavior on the public. In addition to the body jewelry

and tattoos that I already spoke of, punk musicians, especially in punk's early years (most

notably Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols) could be seen cutting themselves with razor

blades on stage in front of their audience of willing onlookers. Some bands vomited on
 19

stage or spit on their audience. According to Marcus in Lipstick Traces, this is a sign of

spreading the filth that is a very common theme in punk culture.

Drugs also play an important role in Punk culture. “[Drug use] symbolized the self-

destructive, nihilistic attitude of hardcores and their desire to live outside of society’s

norms” (Fox, 379). The physical damage caused by the self-mutilation and drug use

speaks volumes about how much angst was present in post-war Britain’s working class

youth. That drugs still play an important role in a large percentage of modern punks might

hint that today's youth still feel the some of that original angst. A modern punk attempts

an explanation for his drug use, “It is kind of like a competition, a show-off thing....seeing

who has the most guts by seeing who can burn his brain up first. It is like a total lack of

care about anything really” (Fox, 379).

Even with the self destruction, it seems that at least one writer sees some religion

in punk. Hans-Georg Soeffner discusses the religion of the punks that I just briefly

touched on earlier. “The usual sermon [is absent]. And there are generally no speakers,

spokespeople or leaders. What remains is a group of disciples without a master...Punk

represents religiousness without God and, thus, is an invisible sort of religion....God has

been replaced by the group itself — for them, intact nature is destroyed, a hereafter is not

imaginable, past paradises are lost and future worlds of salvation are not to be hoped for”

(Soeffner, 61). Transcendence and hope are linked only to the here and now. For this

reason, I believe the punks have such a strong desire to be authentic, real and in touch

with a natural order. But if punks believe in a Christian religion, they would have to give

up their ideas of “no future.” Reaching a state of authenticity would require a leap of faith,

and that too, would not fit in with the punk philosophy.

Age and gender are two aspects of punk culture that take up a much smaller role,

though a fair amount has been written about them. Even though punk is viewed as being a
 20

youth subculture, there are still hints of punk generations. In Sue Widdicombe’s article she

interviews both young and older punks and comes to some interesting conclusions. It

seems that older punks (those older than 16 or 17 or with at least two years of punk

involvement) view younger punks (those younger than 16 or involved for less than one

year) as being less dedicated to the original concepts and ideals of the Punk movement.

The older punks expressed that they felt a closer connection to the essence of punk by

virtue of knowing more about the original movement. The older punks fear that the

younger punks are involved only because of the style and music of punk, not for any of the

original causes.

Some younger punks are critical of older punks, especially as it relates to the older

punks having jobs and families (and therefore selling out). But, there are many young

punks who admire the older punks for being able to maintain the punk lifestyle even while

walking so close to the boundary. Older punks in some instances act as role models for the

younger punks. It is important to note that the age difference between the young and the

older is often no more than five years.

Gender exists as one cultural factor that does very little to separate itself within

punk subculture in England. Punk, according to Fox, is one of the most androgynous

groups of people. “There was no real distinction between male and female fashions” (Fox,

376). Torn jeans, tee-shirts, leather jackets and big black work boots were common. An

argument can be made that this sort of clothing is masculine, but one has only to look at

the other side to realize that the males use face make-up and arrange their hair with

everything from hair spray to crazy glue holding up the spikes. While this may seem like a

reversal of sex stereotypes, the truth is that both sexes dress the same without regard to a

feminine or masculine punk “look.” Some current trends in punk style have shown men

wearing long skirts with combat boots, but this is mostly an American translation of punk
 21

style without regard to the more political and social motivations that helped shape the way

some working class youth dressed in Britain in the mid 1970s.

However, in the literature written about the American punk scene, gender plays a

much more important role. Young females are often attracted into the punk subculture

because they sense they may find a home there. "Messages are delivered to girls which tell

them that Punk culture will embrace their desire for escape and help them survive...Punks

offer a social place for girls who want to escape. Punk girls can experience hedonism and

live a relatively 'adult-free’ life," (Pfeffer, 61). Not only is there the sense of freedom for

girls in the punk subculture, but with many of them coming from troubled families, or

simply being young women who have experienced negative attention due to their female

attributes, "[punk women] have used their punk style to deal with a shared range of

oppressive experiences common to all women and to combat sexual propositions by men

in public, thus allowing them some 'space' to negotiate their gender relations with men"

(Brake, 177). Even though young punk women feel they have found a home in the

subculture and to outsiders it seems as if there is unity among female punks, "inside the

subculture the punk world has reproduced their basic...antagonisms, rather than conditions

which will unite women across common gender interests" (Brake, 178). Women may feel

like they have found a home, but this home is really no different in regards to social

structure than what most of them are used to. "Even in Punk subculture, young women

are expected to maintain an allegiance to their men, regardless of their sexual demands or

junkie behaviors" (Pfeffer, 62).

Normally females get involved with punk because they have boyfriends in the

group or because they like the style, for the aforementioned reasons. Most of the young

women still live at home with their families, and therefore remain on the fringes of the

subculture. Of those young women who have more completely immersed themselves into
 22

the subculture by living in squatter's buildings, they take on a distinctly feminine role of

care-taker or house keeper. The young women also often take on the role of nurse in the

event that one of the male punks is high or drunk or been in a fight. Therefore, "the

distinctive types of activities that females engage in, and the parental supervision they are

subjected to limits subcultural participation" (Baron, 209). Punk is highly masculine in its

penchant for destruction, but with shifting gender roles and more young women becoming

involved in gangs, there seems to be a larger attraction to the punk subculture for its

values (or lack of values). According to the research of Rachel Pfeffer, young women who

have been in very violent gangs in California have switched their allegiance over to the

punks because they offer a more hospitable and free environment in which to live,

regardless of the "ideology of male supremacy" (Baron, 209).

Punk Today
What perpetuates punk? Why does it continue more than 20 years later? Soeffner

argues that “the answer is simple: Punk has no message. Punk as a way of life and a lived

style is the message...[Punks] demonstrate a unified moral --albeit costly and risky—

...lifestyle (65). Today, punk has a different face and connotation. No longer are the most

visible punks the working class punks of Britain in the 70's. (As a matter of conjecture, it

might be argued that the British punks of the 90's are more influenced by America’s style

based punk culture than their own working class culture which faded quickly in the early

80's). The most visible punks today seem much more concerned with image, art and music

than with working class philosophy.

Susan Willis writes about the punk movement in the Chapel Hill area in the late

80's early 90's. Willis uses her daughter as an example of the punk style, but states that her

daughter uses it as a costume. The idea of style as costume, according to Greil Marcus,
 23

goes against the very thread of punk philosophy. Today’s punk as illustrated by Willis

shows punk as style based, devoid of any real political or even social meaning. "Hardcore

ideologies are styles whose codes of meaning are manipulated and disputed as are the

elements of fashion and the brands of music" (Willis, 374). The idea of the authentic is

denied and the ‘being’ versus ‘doing’ of Widdicombe’s essay becomes only ‘doing’ for

Willis and her daughter and the punks they have observed in Chapel Hill.

Even though vomiting onstage and walking around in a drugged out stupor aren’t

normally considered attractive life choices and these behaviors are not chosen for their

"stylistic" draw, it is easier to understand the motivation behind choosing this life style for

a beaten down working class youth who knew what it was like to have nothing. The punk

of today, or rather the punks that Willis introduces, with their obnoxious behavior makes

it more difficult to understand their motivation. Using drugs as an escape makes less sense

when punks are escaping the suburbs as opposed to escaping street life. Today’s punks are

a paradox made up of a series of suburban behaviors that don't seem to be motivated by

the same issues of the original punk movement. The view presented by both Willis and

Fox left me to remember a quote I read recently on a bathroom wall in a club here in

Raleigh. “Punk’s not dead; it lives in the suburbs with its parents."

However, I am not convinced that this suburban view of punks is completely

accurate. It is true that there are punks in the suburbs, but according to another article by

Stephen Baron, more than 70% of today's punks have at one time or are currently living

on the streets. The fact that many of them come from middle class backgrounds does

nothing to convince me that they are involved in the subculture for stylistic reasons alone,

"but may instead be a result of the social problems of youth..." (Baron, 214). Punk beliefs

are as difficult to pin down today as they were in 1976, but the truth remains that most

punks are young adults who have issues or problems that the punk subculture helps them
 24

deal with. The aspect of punk culture that becomes important for professionals to deal

with is this delinquency. Knowing some of the social and cultural reasons why punk

surfaced in England and the United States helps us deal with some of the more disturbing

issues of the punk subculture.

Contributions
I don't mean to imply that all punks are delinquents and I certainly don't mean to

further the misconception that punks have not contributed anything to the world. Punks,

as a subculture of angry youth have done a lot to raise the consciousness of those with the

power and ability to do something about some of the social and political injustices the

punks react against every day. Punk, more than anything else relies on the tenet of "Do It

Yourself," (DIY). This self-reliant belief has spurned many punks on to do great things.

Many punk musicians from the 1970s continue to be active in the music business. The

Ramones, a popular American Punk band, still records albums. The Sex Pistols, sans Sid

Vicious who committed suicide in 1979, did a comeback album in the early 90s. Legs

McNeil, a popular American punk musician has gone on to write several books on the

punk subculture that are invaluable to understanding the influences of this dynamic

culture.

In addition to the famous musicians, punks today still create garage bands in which

they write, perform and record their own music. Many punks, sick of the hyper

commercialist culture of major record labels, along with the fact that major record labels

did not want to promote groups "that appeared to promote radical politics...which

centered around a critique of every day American life" (Schalit, 27), have created their

own companies that promote themselves and other local punk bands.

DIY has sounded a call to punks who feel that the status-quo does nothing right.
 25

Instead of standing passively by and letting someone do it wrong, they have decided to

band together and do it right, albeit, right from their perspective. These aren't just kids

who have problems in themselves, but rather kids who see problems that need to be

righted in the world. Oftentimes they aren't on the right track. Early on, the Sex Pistols

and the Clash felt that England was still threatened by fascism even so many years after

Hitler tore through. Their songs simply (or not so simply) illustrated that fear. Today, kids

in bands use their music to express their fears, concerns and problems in a world that tends

not to listen to those who look and act differently. Perhaps the world does not listen

because they don't understand enough about punks not to be threatened by them.

Throughout the years since punk first began, they have been involved in political

activities. In the earliest history of English punk, the Socialist Worker's Party organized

"Rock Against Racism," whose goal was to "fight the influences of racism and fascism in

rock music" (Dancis, 60). The Socialist Worker's Party also organized demonstrations

against the National Front, "a neo-fascist organization that has attempted to blame black

and Asian immigrants for Britain's deteriorating economic position" (Dancis, 61). Both of

these organizations sought to organize black and white working class youth and found

punks to be major contributors to the cause.

In America, while punks had "no political presence as such" (Goldthorpe, 49), they

did get involved with activities that promoted activism first in the form of squatter's rights

and later in the form of Rock Against Reagan. In San Francisco, a group consisting of

punks and others gathered to protest a nearby nuclear weapons research lab and later "as

a part of a day of action ...a suburban affinity group organized its own Hall of Shame Tour

through downtown San Francisco" (Goldthorpe, 51) to protest taxes that supported

nuclear weapons. "These actions had a subcultural character more about outrage than

outreach" (Goldthorpe, 51), but the protests did serve to contribute to the solidarity of the
 26

punks in California.

The solidarity of punks is easily witnessed in any small town or large city that has a

punk following. If another group of punks comes to town, they are quickly invited to stay

with the local group. Punks are a family to each other, no matter how dysfunctional they

may seem. If you are a punk, you always have a home, no matter where you go. These

punks have come a long way from the "Doing Nothing" group that Paul Corrigan wrote

about in his article on street youth subcultures.

In addition to what punk individuals have contributed, punk as a belief system has

also inspired a way of looking at life that encourages creativity and the freedom and

necessity of making up your own mind about troubling social issues. In two articles,

educators promote the ideals of punk subculture in getting kids to think outside of typical

classroom behavior. Geoffrey Sirc discusses his ideas that punk ideology would do a lot to

urge students to be creative in their writing and expressing of themselves. In 1975, the

Committee on Classroom Practices states "there was no doubt in the mind of anyone

attending this meeting that the improvement of writing instruction should be the theme of

this [report]" (Sirc, 9). That college composition was in a state of severe lack could not be

denied and Sirc discusses why he believes that the study of the punk ideology would

advance the cause of good writing and communication.

In support of the article by Sirc, Seth Kahn-Egan offers a vision of what the punk

classroom would look like. Even though much of punk ideology is based on self-loathing

and hate, Egan was able to modify the characteristics so that instructors could "maintain

some civility in our classrooms...provide a philosophical direction useful in guiding us to a

new kind of course, one in which we teach critical discourse that is more proactive than

deconstructive" (Kahn-Egan, 100). Kahn-Egan came up with five principles of punk that

would be beneficial for any instructor to cultivate in students:

 27
1. The Do-It-Yourself ethic, which demands that we do our own work because

anybody who would do our work for us is only trying to jerk us around.

2. A sense of anger and passion that finally drives a writer to say what's really on

his or her mind.

3. a sense of destructiveness that calls for attacking institutions when those

institutions are oppressive.

4. A willingness to endure or even pursue pain to make oneself heard or noticed.

5. A pursuit of the pleasure principle, a reveling in some kind of Nietzchean chasm.

These five principles of punk show a sort of delinquency, but they are tempered with

positive idealistic principles that would do a lot to advance the cause of any teen who feels

they have no original voice. To look at it this way, taking out the delinquent parts of punk

ideology and stressing the importance of an individual's right to have his/her own opinion

portrays punk in a new light. Perhaps these kids aren't just yelling or creating a mockery of

their surroundings to offend, but to be heard on important issues - issues that are being

neglected by the status quo. Are punk issues any less important than those that are

expressed with tact?

Punks in the Public Library

Punks bring with them a large and dynamic history along with aspects of

delinquency and extreme creativity and intelligence. Libraries have the opportunity to tap

into the punk subculture and offer services that are just as unique as the punks. While

traditional methods of appealing to the public will fall flat with the punks, there are other

types of services that may be provided that can offer an environment conducive to

fostering the growth and well-being of such a delinquent subculture. While every service
 28

provided for a group of teens with problems will need a certain amount of thought into

public safety, the risks associated with serving this group of kids does not outweigh the

benefits for both the library and the punks themselves.

Since the library is often a very traditional establishment, often with ties to local or

state government, punks may not feel comfortable using the building for anything other

than the bathroom it provides. For this reason, librarians need to be creative in developing

services that will appeal to them without hinting that the library is trying to change punks

or make the movement “cool” for the surrounding community. The first step for the

library is aligning itself with the punks outside of the library building. This could be by

creating a “band night” (or afternoon) where punk bands are given space in the parking lot

to perform their music for an audience. Since the library would not be promoting their

internal services, punks may be more likely to get involved. My experience has been that

punks love the chance to play their music for an audience of excited onlookers regardless

of where that is. If this works out and can become a regular event, punks might begin to

look upon the library more favorably, even if it is “run by the government.” Library staff

could make rounds to talk to various punks in order to find out if they read and what sort

of books they like.

At this point, the library may begin offering reading lists to punks after compiling a

bibliography of titles that appeal to them. Histories of music, books written by other punk

writers and musicians, along with a variety of other materials will give punks a reason to

go into the library. Once punks have entered the building for reasons other than

delinquency, the librarians really have the chance to talk with them and offer alternatives

to just hanging out on the streets. Often the alternative will be to read or get involved in

some of the community programs the library offers that might help give voice to the

various concerns punks have about their community around them.

 29

Once reading lists are compiled and community service projects start reflecting the

needs and wants of this subculture, the library may reach out into the punk community via

other channels (word of mouth, fliers, alternative radio announcements). In this way,

punks can get involved and expend some of their energy on positive things and begin to

feel that they have a voice and that voice is not only being heard, but being respected and

valued. I can’t help but think that a group of kids who aren’t used to positive and

encouraging attention might actually benefit from the library taking some time and effort

to devote to an often misunderstood and misrepresented group of young adults

Conclusion
Libraries have the task of appealing to many facets of the community. Some of

these segments are not as easy to serve due to their inherent difficulties, whether it be a

physical handicap, an emotional handicap, the homeless, the rowdy, or the illiterate. Just

because a population exhibits a challenge does not mean the library can ignore their

existence. When viewing the punk subculture as it exists today, whether the kids are from

suburban families and are well-cared for or from dysfunctional backgrounds and living on

their own, we may see many different things. Many people can't get past the obnoxious

behavior to see that many of these kids are smart, have wonderful imaginations and need

some place like the library to cultivate their talents.

What I have attempted to do in this paper is show how punk developed, what

separates punk from other segments of the population, and pull out some of the

contributions punk has made to society. From here, librarians can determine whether or

not they can or should provide services to a population that may cause them some

problems, but may also give them a valuable perspective on the world.

With an understanding of the importance of the punk subculture on the history of

 30

music, sociology and anthropology, librarians can also be sure that their collections offer a

representative sample of research works on punk in order to satisfy others who may wish

to do their own studies on punk.

 31

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Bindas, Kenneth J. "'The Future is Unwritten': The Clash, Punk and America, 1977-1982."
Journal of American Studies. June 1993: 69-87.

Brake, Michael. Comparative Youth Culture: the Sociology of Youth Cultures and Youth
Subcultures in America, Britain and Canada. Routledge: London, 1985.

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Marcus, Greil. Lipstick Traces: a Secret History of the Twentieth Century. Harvard
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 32

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Sirc, Geoffrey. “Never Mind the Tagmemics, Where’s the Sex Pistols?” College
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Life.” The Order of Rituals: the Interpretation of Everyday Life. Transaction
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Stratton, Jon. "On the Importance of Subcultural Origins." The Subcultures Reader
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